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The truth of why my goalie son QUIT the 16 U AAA Predators team was because there were 2 kids smoking weed - at tournaments, in the locker room at practice, etc... one of the kids that were caught, quit after they were both suspended - the other was brought back even though the team took a vote and only 2 kids wanted the suspended problematic player brought back.
The suspended player is well kown for his repeated disciplinary issues on the ice and the bench, in the locker room and repeated drug use. The coach made the decision to bring him back anyway and said if anyone doesn't like that decision, they can leave. My son chose to leave, the night that the player was brought back. He said his goodbyes, shook hands with his teammates , wished them well, and we left Ice Castle. The team captain also quit, for the same reasons.
That’s correct - my son chose to quit. He wasn’t thrown off by the coach - he wasn’t pulled off by my wife or myself - he quit and we supported that decision 100%. We are proud of his decision. Some parents on the 16u AA TEAM were allegedly told that my son was thrown off of the team. That is 100% false. I want the record set straight.
This is 100% factual - so much so that I am not anonymous. My name is Phil Isaly. My sons name is Ethan. We will never play for the Predators Organization again. You all can make up your own minds.

It’s odd but parents of local 04’s seem to be really out of touch, don’t understand the path’s and honestly just assume there is college hockey spots begging to be filled. Having a 99 and 02 I’ve never seen anything like it. Sure, we all as parents in the early days think “maybe my kid can do it” but around the age of 14 you become educated on the paths, how much work & dedication outside of hockey is needed, Class room, nutrition, gym, how much more specialized instruction is needed. Both my kids were fortunate enough through out the years to play for PPE and one of them played for both PPE and esmark. My best guess here, these 04 parents (outside of the ppe parents) probably have never seen high end youth players, I assume this because you look at team like Lebo (Pahl team for years) and the 04 preds (doesn’t appear any of them played tier 1 at ppe or esmark ever from what I’ve read here) these parents Just assume they are playing “aaa” so off to the show they go. It’s bizarre that this certain BY parents seem to be so far behind the curve. I know some 05 and 06 parents who already get it and understand things. My 99 was a talented dman, he had a legitimate chance to play in the ushl. When it came down to it, he did not have the dedication to keep pushing after 17 years old and that’s ok. He was selected in the ushl futures draft. Went to one REAL camp, came home and said “dad what’s the point there are so many players out there with my talent and even more - they won’t even end up playing d1 I’m ready to get on with my life next year and just goto college, Where does this lead even if I get into d1 ? Stuck playing at a school you are still paying for that I might not even want to goto” nothing there for me to argue, he was spot on. He saw the talent, knew he would have to work harder and for what, to play at a school when he is 20 that he might not even want to be at. Yes you parents reading this, the majority of NCAA hockey players are not on a scholarship, most are not even on half scholarships and you better have a 4.0 with a high sat score so you can get some non athletic money. I have my theories but can’t really explain why the 04 BY parents are this crazy and uneducated. Due to my kids birth years out in the open now, where they played and the ushl draft I’m sure many readers will figure out who I am. That might be a good thing 🙂 or maybe not 🙂 but I’ll leave all the readers with Ncaa scholarship dreams with this : we have a very close friend playing ncca college hockey at a major big 10 university (not some small school like rmu). This player made the USA hockey select camps every year, almost had a spot on the national team. Very talented high end player who also has the size. He only had to play one year in the USHL. He’s a junior this year, he’s considered one the starting 5 on the team, he’s only on a partial scholarship for hockey. His parents are paying 32k a year for him to goto this university that costs roughly 58k a year to live at and attended. In comparison his girlfriend at the same university is only paying 18k due to multiple academic scholarships, she plays no sports, Just an average (smart) college kid. They player I’m speaking about, after he’s done, he will be in the work force, he’s got ZERO interest from any pro team at any level in North America even though he’s a top player from a high level Ncaa program. Sorry to crush so many dreams with one post but this is the reality of college hockey.

Actually just found out about this forum today, this is Mitch from Pittsburgh Hockey Digest.
Just wanted to thank you guys for the kind words... it’s rough hours some days but it’s great know there are people who appreciate it!

That's your opinion along with the Governor and his Health Secretary. A health secretary who among other things moved her mother out of a nursing home at the very start of this mess while at the same time sent positive patients back into other homes such as the one in Beaver County. That facility is the SOLE reason Beaver county is still in the Red phase. That leaves a lot of room to question their plans as well as their motives
You have your Fauci's with one opinion, people from Stanford with another and last night I saw another doctor who had his message removed from youtube just like may others have. His message was this, the schools and children weren't at risk and we closed them immediately. The senior care facilities were the highest risk and they took forever to be closed. If we left the schools open, there would have been a better chance for building herd immunity.
The bottom line is this, you don't know. I don't know and I'm not sure anyone really does know. So, for two months we have listened to their "rules" and now it's time to get back to life if you're so inclined OR stay at home in fear of something that is the unknown and which the duration is also unknown. Just not the way this country is supposed to work.

And therein may lie the biggest problem with Pittsburgh youth hockey. What percentage of parents at PPE actually do believe that they are currently in some sort of minor league system that will lead them straight to the NHL Penguins. I'm not talking about the kids (although they probably have a better grasp of reality) I'm talking about the parents. I'm going to give my guess by age group.
Little 66ers - 90-95% - I will follow your every instruction
10U - 85-90% - It costs how much? No problem, it will be worth every penny
12U - 80% - Wait, my little superstar isn't on the 1st line
14U - 70% - You're bringing in players from where
15U - 60% - But we've been playing here for 8 years
16U - 50% - I guess not everyone makes the grade
18U - <25% - Reality finally sets in and holy s*** there's no money left for college

Eddie, I think removing body checking at 12U has amplified the parent paranoia, and in some areas hindered the kids development. I understand the thought process behind removing it 8 or so years ago, but respectfully disagree with it. It's better for players to learn and acclimate themselves to body-checking at a younger age, where both first and second year players are still relatively small. At bantam, the size discrepancy is much larger. You can have a first year player at 4'11 and 85lbs go up against a second year player who is 5'10 and 160lbs. That's the nature of bantam hockey. When you factor in the first year player having no experience with checking, specifically lacking good habits to properly protect themselves, then things can get dangerous. They should consider reintroducing body-checking back into 12U, however, I fear they're more likely to remove it from 14U.

How do you propose to enforce this. I don't think USA Hockey is going to send someone to a rink to take names. I am actually quite shocked by the people who are whining about a rink renting their ice out. How will you feel if rinks have to close because they have had no income for 4 or 5 months. How would it affect youth hockey if the number of rinks in western pa is cut in half when it gets to green. And for arguments sake tell me what it is going to take to get to green. How can you work toward something with no guidelines. People are tired of government just making things up, No one is being forced to skate. Maybe just maybe there are people skating for the love of the game. I would like to think that most people are well aware of the risks involved with being in public. We are in this for the long haul. No quick fix. Time to get on with life! And yes that most likely means the inflated numbers are going to go up, people are going to get sick. Most will recover some will not. I live in a country that up until now gave me the choice to live my life free from oppression. I'd like to get back to that. Enough of my rantings.
Time

One struggles mightily to understand how a discussion about the merits of installing an ice rink - 1) in the City of Pittsburgh and 2) at the Hunt Armory specifically -could devolve into an argument about the relative intelligence or manliness of the forum participants. It's hard to get any value out of the any of the more serious discussions here with this sort of reduction to the absurd going on. This was actually one of the more healthy discussions on the forum until about ten messages ago. Put them away, boys.
And, as someone said elsewhere, stop feeding the animals.

Well if it matters, I still have no idea who you are! Anyway, I hope the readers of this board realize that this post is what constitutes a well informed and experienced post. This helps people. Read what he says about academics. Read what he says about his older son not being willing to work for it. None of that makes him a bad kid. But it shows that the human element can never be taken out of the development process. And that includes pushing the holistic development of the player. Not just driving them to the trainer. That means a 24 hour a day commitment. Academics. Nutrition. Conditioning. On and off ice. And that’s not even considering whether the natural ability is there or not. Having said that, it’s not wrong to push kids to strive for the best they can be at all those elements, even if there is no athletic scholarship or career on the other side. Maybe through academic scholarships and learning to push themselves, they achieve something the top BY players in the area never will. But be smart about it. Don’t live beyond your means and know when it’s time to make good decisions. Good job @Danner27

Just because someone approaches you doesn't mean your kid is AAA talent. Sometimes the team needs to fill a roster. A lot of times. I know kids on the AAA teams that have never made a AA roster in PAHL. And they've tried out at multiple programs over the years. I don't think all of those programs are misjudging that badly. Mom and dad are misjudging badly and there is someone happy to take their money.
If your kid is dominating PAHL AA and seems to need more to progress, then start thinking about AAA. And remember that dominating as a squirt is not the same as dominating as a Bantam. The coaches of these faux AAA teams are not the ones to ask. Again, they may need to fill a roster. People that have no skin in the game are better. People in your current program that have older kids playing in AA or AAA. People who evaluate your kid in your program. The person you take privates from. In fact, these people may begin to express interest in working with your child because they see something more in him or her.
I see the kids who get cut from the AAA programs later. Frequently, in their head they are elite and always will be. So they are nightmares if they come back to PAHL. So much better than their teammates, PAHL is beneath them. They make sure everyone knows it. They don't play a team game, because everyone sucks but them. Or they exit hockey all together because they thought they were going to the show and now see no more reason to play. Or got burned out.
I think we do a lot more harm than good labeling young kids as elite sometimes.

Parents, be careful for what you wish for when it comes to your players team moving up a division or two. Anabolic coaches wanting to don a AA moniker may end up biting off more they can chew just so they can tell everyone their son / team plays at the AA level, or just a higher level than they really should be at. Your player will get more out of a winning season at A Major Black than a disastrous one at AA. Ask the players / parent of last years Renegades 07 team which had no business playing AA. And that was driven by coaches

THIS IS GOING TO SOUND CRAZY!!!!
How about everyone worry about their own kid!!!!
Most of the parents who are raising issues about this are jealous and are the same types of parents that openly complain to their child about the coach or teammates.
The supposed favorites are usually the kids that works harder than everyone else, loves the game, wants to be at the rink, and listens, which is the reason why their one of the better players on the team and getting more ice time. It’s not the coach’s fault, it’s the players, because I guarantee the player isn’t working hard, goofs around, doesn’t listen, isn’t skilled enough and causes the team problems.
Rather than worry about what other kids and organizations (that your kid isn’t skilled enough to make) are doing you should worry about teaching your kid how to take responsibility for themselves and not shift blame.

Honestly, and I've never noticed this on the past so hopefully I'm wrong, but this entire thread stinks of "my kid didn't get invited I'm jealous" or at a minimum "I'm terrified in my house and jealous other people aren't". Let kids play sports and get some exercise. Save the liability bull$ for people who care.

willing to bet 90% of people on this board would send their kids to the rink for full games or tryouts tomorrow- with no fear. in talking to many dems and republicans i don’t know anyone who fears school or sports. perhaps they will take precautions and be careful around the vulnerable people in their lives, but that’s it. and it’s not a matter of doing anything so that “little johnnie” shines - it’s just that most people who i know just don't have the fear that everyone says the media has instilled.

To date ( My company works with hospitals ) upmc mercy has taken care of 8 cases, Saint Clair 1, upmc East 3, Allegheny 5, upmc south side zero and this is where the testing is being done. I’d say this entire “pandemic” is over blown and unfortunately it’s turning into a political game. I would also wager that most kids that play hockey, along with their parents have antibodies for covid 19. This was by far the worse season of sickness on hockey teams. Dec-feb “the flu” went through most teams.

Get the fuck out of here with your morally superior bullshit! FAR MORE times have kids and families been screwed over and lied to by these organizations and the scum bag coaches that they chose to run their teams! Kids and families are routinely held hostage to these terrible people over their “commitment”. Countless kids ride the bench and get treated like shit at the hands of these money hungry or WIN driven coaches and organizations! Pathetically, it’s not just at the tier 1 level either!
There is zero loyalty from organizations as they shamelessly take thousands of dollars out of the hands of families. Families who are paying for a service, for their sons or daughters to be taught the game of hockey and more importantly to be treated with respect!
Shut the fuck up and go ahead and be proud of yourself and your family values. But don’t sit here and project your bullshit onto other people for doing what’s best for their family too! Asshole

Well couldn’t those same attributes apply to coaches at the Predators Or Vengeance organizations that you’ve been critical of? You’re certainly entitled to your opinion but to frame your comments as fact is irresponsible. Further, you say you left to play at a higher level but have lambasted other programs for fielding teams that play against better competition at a perceived higher level. Is this a right or privilege that should only be afforded to the Mt Lebo guy? Hockey can have a fabulous effect on a person. Especially if they’ve only profited personally from it. I’d reserve the praise for the people that don’t reap the rewards of nepotism, corruption and financial exploitation. They’re few and far between anymore.

Yes. As you describe, some will go to PPE. Some will not make PPE and try another AAA program. Most will go to PAHL travel. And the incoming ADM Red players will land all over the board in PAHL. You should not have an AA or A Major expectation because you are ADM Red now.
The common sense approach, even if you think your child is going to the NHL, even if your child is scoring 20 goals per jamboree, is to start in a PAHL program. Get your feet wet first locally. Play local before playing AAA. The AAA designation for 9 year-olds is only meaningful to parents. Your 9 year old does not know nor care about being AAA, AA, A, or B. They just want to have fun and your job is to make fun available. You can look at MyHockey and see that PAHL teams can compete and beat AAA teams. So play in PAHL to start, save yourself thousands in fees, and enjoy the ride while your player develops.

I offer no opinion on the quality of play at AAA Tier I 16U, or how WPA hockey and USA Hockey are a joke to those of you posting on this forum, just someone (not a player, parent, coach, or rival) presenting the facts on the Predators 2019-2020 16U team... The AA Tier I 14U SHAHA 2017-2018 National Champion team members were recruited to play AAA Tier I 15U for the Predators in 2018-2019 because SHAHA had no respectable ice time to offer at the 15U level that year. At least 8 players made the move that year along with four or five players from the 2017-2018 14U AA Pens Elite Black, and some former Predators players. The coach that year was also recruited out of retirement (the formerly mentioned SHAHA team coach). The players had high hopes, but quickly found that the team had some internal player issues which they tried to resolve with management multiple times to no avail. Their season ended with them ranked 44 of 113, not bad cosidering the Predators 15U team the previous year ranked 91 of 148. Players were then "romanced" and promised a "better situation" if they would return for 2019-2020 tryouts....a new coach, new players, better conditioning, more consistent management. They lost at least 3 good players to other teams after tryouts, but picked up a few good recruits as well. However, practices are fewer and shorter than "promised" with no contact drills at all. Conditioning sessions are self-conducted at the player's discretion in the Ice Castle Gym (for which they had to have a paid membership). The same internal player issues exist, which have been discussed with management, again with no resolution. Two defensive players injured/ill early in the season and the resignation of another defensive player from the team because of the internal issues brought about "pulling up" two defensemen. More issues developed when at least two players were suspended for fighting and dangerous play in games against the Columbus Blue Jackets. These internal player issues have been allowed to go unchecked despite multiple player and parent discussions with management, and yet another player resigned as a result. Recently, proof of illicit drug offenses by two players conducted while at a tournament in Toronto was brought to the attenion of and tolerated by management, which was the absolute breaking point for some. Winning, or at least their delusion of grandeur, is decidedly more important than integrity and morality to management. The team captain promptly resigned before the semi-final game of that tournament when one of the offenders was reinstated by management to play in that game. After a short-lived absence from the team following their return from Toronto and a team vote to keep him off the team, that same offender was reinstated on the team by management, which prompted the goalie's resignation shortly thereafter. Now, perhaps, the speculation of what is going on with the 16U team will finally end!

Dude, really ? You're bragging about a "AAA" team that is 3-16-3 and ranked 110 ? Really? You're what's wrong with Western PA hockey. Arguing like you own proprietary rights to yellow helmets. lmao. Do you hear yourself ? 3-16-3 . Come on man. Just play the AA team and settle it once and for all.

Preparing for PeeWee tryouts next year? Yea, I would focus on Baseball, Lacrosse or possibly Soccer.
I'm not kidding. If a child is less than 14 years old, they need to play more than 1 sport. Do not keep them on the ice year round, they will not develop all their muscle groups (no matter how much you work out). They need multiple sports for muscle and coordination.

I had the misfortune a long time ago to be a house league commisioner for a squirt and peewee division. I took the job because my kid was older and no longer played house league and a friend of mine ran the league and needed the help. I thought it would be a good idea to update the website to contain all kinds of stats (individual, team and game stats). This was a huge mistake! I spent 80% of my time handling emails and phones call from hockey parents telling me that little johnny had 2 assists in a game and did not get credit for it, or little Bobby had more than 15 shots on goal against him and his save percentage was wrong. I tried to tell the parents that the stats on the website came from the game scoresheets, and that was what the refs had called.
I also had gotten the mic working at the rink and had people who would announce the goals and assists. So, then the parents started walking around the ice to bother the scorekeepers after a goal to tell them that little johnny had that goal and not the other kid. The scorekeepers told them they announced what the refs called, then the parents started to try to get the refs to make the changes during game stoppages! Myself, the scorekeepers, announcer and refs were all getting stopped after the game while the parents were trying to get us to add stuff to the scoresheets. I even had parents wanting copies of the sheets, so they could compare it to what was on the website.
I finally had to pull the plug on the announcer and take the stats off the website because it just became too big of a hassel.
Do yourselves a favor, don't put stats on the websites. The parents will ruin it.

Prepping them for Prep school! Makes about as much sense as PPE's new *not associated with any school* Prep team.
Haven't you heard about the new Pittsburgh Super Selects High Performance Elite Prospect Prep 6U Mite team?

I'll be honest. I don't know what that means.
The only thing I have nightmares about is that 6 months ago if I told you that the government was going to tell you where you could go, who you could see, what you could wear and what you could buy, everyone would have thought would never happen. Well, it has happened and some people are ok with it.

This right here is so true. We had a ton of sick kids on both travel and PIHL teams last season. This is why I believe having a reliable anti-body test is just as important as testing for the actual virus because I believe we will see many of us have already had it.
My company has an office in California. Half the office was out sick in February with some unknown sickness. Everyone now believes it was COVID, and likely explains why the numbers in CA are less than PA....not because they are following the lockdown better or started sooner, but because they've already had it and didn't know it.

Don’t forget that senior players would not be eligible. Reason? They’ve graduated. I’m not as sentimental as some. Sure it sucks for kids that age to have these life events removed from the equation but this is a teaching moment. It’s not the end of the world. Time to move on. Believe it or not, millions of teens miss graduations, proms, or don’t even play a sport. That’s a cultural issue. Young parents waste no opportunity to sensationalize even the smallest of obstacles these days. But anyway, the PIHL needs to move on. For every senior they think they’re keeping hope alive for, they’re ignoring The thousands of players that will benefit from a structured plan for next season. It seems our culture never wasted an opportunity to miss the point.

At 12u coaches shouldn't have a power play unit and top lines yet. Chasing the banner over development. Parents should be pissed if that is going on. Every kid should be getting opportunities to do all these things.

This is a bizarre argument, even for this board. I think most people understand that for a western Pa kid to make it to the NHL, they are going to have to leave the area at some point. Ryan Malone never stopped being referred to as Upper St. Clair's, even though he spent some teenage years in Minnesota.

Too many parents and coaches do not understand safe sport. A lot of coaches take the class and seem to forget what they learned. Safe sport is there to protect everyone even the parents. the West Allegheny coach got suspended for a year! During my time watching my kids play over the years I’ve seen coaches do some pretty stupid stuff and only get a week or two suspension. This guy had to do something egregious. PS @Entitled yesterday you wrote a 5 paragraph reply and quickly deleted it. I’m guessing you deleted it because the post made it very obvious you are the former coach at WA. Remember this is the internet nothing gets deleted for good.

The lack of information from the PIHL and PAHL is unbelievable. I should also add the same for probably 80 percent of the organizations in the PAHL. I don't understand why the PAHL hides all of the game info. They have the capability to give the kids recognition but choose to hide it all. At least the PIHL shows game stats and rosters.

Key word - "barns."
Props to the ownership groups at Frozen Pond and Baeirl for making significant improvements in their facilities. Both rinks have gone through major changes while other rinks continue to rake in funds while their owners put nothing back into the rink from an improvement standpoint.

King is definitely right here. USA Hockey is a propaganda machine and spews out this kind of stuff all of the time. Explain to be too how the ADM, which is geared primarily toward the development at the Mite level, but has practice plan ideas for Squirt and above helped Turcotte after his 12U season? Also, the direct quote says that after he was "taken into the program" he fell in love again. Well of course he did since he was in the National Program. Its not like he had a coach he didn't like and went to another amateur organization and found ADM.
Each year is making it harder and harder for even regular everyday dads to be a coach. Just look at the fact that now SafeSport trainings have to be done yearly as opposed to every other year. What does that solve? Is someone going to forget in the off-year from watching those hours of videos? And as we all know, just because you watched videos, it doesn't make you a good person or prevent you from a future crime.
Add too all of these rules now being forced on officials, and the way they want them to call them (banging the boards) and you are going to see fewer officials not wanting to jump through the hoops.
And lets not forget limiting players with an example of MidAm placing the 2007 player rule for Middle School limiting the number of kids that can participate there.
We all complain about those that chase the extra 'A' and what it is doing to AA hockey and further down to the house level. In my opinion, USA Hockey is doing the exact same thing where these rules and regulations just further limit those that can play and volunteer.